About:

It's my hope to post entries here about my life and experiences as a trans-woman who also happens to have bipolar disorder. This is my way of making my voice be heard, and bringing attention to the issues that myself and others like me, face every day.

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

It's been 4 1/2 years since I started down the path of my transition, farther than I could have really imagined when I first started. I've had my good times, and my bad times, but it seems as though reality has finally caught up with me. The reality I have to face, that has been starring me in the face these past few years, is that I really have made very little progress since I went full time in 2008. I've let things stagnate for the last few years, and just doing enough to manage to pass day to day.

I've held it in and kept it to myself for months now, but there were incidents that happened when I was on the job over the fall that brought these things to light. I was called sir by customers on quite a few occasions, and even at one point flat out asked if I was a guy. At the time I had to downplay them because I was at work, and every time I let the downplaying continue after I had left. I did my best to block out the pain I was feeling, because I had realized that I had relied on visual clues this whole time to pass.

My clothes and the fact that I carried a purse, I suppose, had for the most part shielded me from a great deal of being misgendered by strangers. Normally I'd have limited contact with people I didn't know in public, but working at the store brought me in contact people almost constantly. We had to wear aprons and name tags, and the aprons were fairly loose fitting, which meant that it covered my chest pretty well. So it stripped me of one obvious clue, and covered my clothes enough that I'm sure it wasn't immediately obvious they were girls clothes.

What it did was rob me of the clues I had been relying on for so long. I couldn't carry my purse on the sales floor, so it all came down to voice and body language, and a little bit to looks. I normally passed without much issue, but it did happen often enough to bother me. The fact that someone flat out asked me to my face really hit me hard. Of course I said I was a girl and was pretty offended, but inside I just wanted to disappear.

It's a hard reality for me to accept, but it's one I knew about long enough ago that I should have addressed it by now. I don't pass, not without a lot of work before I go out. I've ignored it all I can, but now I can't. The worst part, and what made me suppress it in the first place, is that I can't really do anything about it. Until I have the money to go get the work done that I want, there really isn't a lot I can do aside from make up and possibly a new hair style or something. I have limited options. Recent events have forced this to the surface, and I just had to write to get it out. It's funny how something can be right in front of you, every second of every day, and you ignore it until it blows up in your face.

I never meant to let this much time go by without making any progress, and it's my own fault. I wasted the time, and now it's my burden to bear. The only way I'm going to fix it is by working my ass off to get a job and try to save up. I've got an interview tomorrow, and hopefully it goes well. I've got a lot of regrets in my life, and I guess I can just add this one to them. Oh well, no one ever said life transitioning would be easy, so I guess I just have to grin and bear it and keep moving forward, the world won't stop for me to play catch up. I'm going to give it my all once again to make shit happen, one hundred percent and then some.

I hide behind this facade; this fantasy.it protects me from the cold harshness of the world.It is strong and built to last forever,but find it's weak spotand it will all come crashing down.All the walls in the world, andall the masks on the wall,won't hide me from my nightmare.

Thursday, January 12, 2012

So it's back to living with the proverbial gun to my head, my job is over and I'm yet to find another. The store closed on Sunday, and is probably completely packed up and moved out of the building by now. It was nice while it lasted, now I get to live with the constant threat of losing my home again and having no money. I try very hard to stay positive and not lose hope, but at times like this it's even harder. If I could go back and change one thing, I'd have accepted the interview I got called for the day after I got hired at spirit and just worked both jobs if I had gotten it. It was a nice job while it lasted, but I knew from the start that it was only temporary. I was disappointed that it was the only place willing to hire me and I wish I had kept applying once I got hired. I had high hopes of the toy store sticking around after Christmas, but our sales amounts kind of killed that dream.

All I want is a stable job that's going to be there for a while. I'm not asking much, just some job security while I look for a career and try to get my life on track. My artwork isn't really going to get me by in life until I use some other line of work to get that career started. Most places willing to display it want a monthly fee to do so, and right now I need every cent to my name just to get by from day to day. I've got enough to pay my way here at the new place until March, after that I don't know what's going to happen if I don't have a job yet.

If I could get a job that will pay me the same amount per hour that I've been getting, and work me at least 25 to 30 hours a week I'd be doing alright. I just need enough to cover rent and the occasional fast food meal and other small cheap necessary items. It took me 3 months before, and that's about all I can cover myself for this time with the savings I have. All I can do is hope that I can find another job within that same amount of time or less again, if not I don't know what might happen.

About Me

My name is Sage, and I'm just a young trans-woman trying to get by in this world. I started this blog to write about my life and what goes on in it, and to talk about whatever I feel applies to it at times. Keep reading if it interests you. I plan to update as frequently as possible. If you send me friend requests on any of my sites, please send a message and mention my blog in it so I don't accidentally ignore it.

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This a personal blog, as such it contains the thoughts and opinions of the author alone. By no means are the statements made herein meant to defame, or do harm to anyone. To ensure this, names and personal information of those who have not given explicit permission to the author to use will be omitted to ensure privacy. The author assumes no responsibility for use by others of any information contained on this site or those linked to it. This statement is effective as of 6 May 2011.